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MYSTICISM OF DARVISHES: THE DARVISH ORDERS
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Of the various orders of Darvishes the most ancient and the greatest like 'Ilwānīs, the Adhamīs, the Qadiris, the Rifa'is, the Nagshbandis, the Khalwatis, etc. are considered as the cardinals. They call themselves the usuls, or 'originals' and call others the furü' or 'branches' signifying their emanation from the first. "The order of the Naqshbandis and Khalwatis hold however the first rank in the temporal line; the one on account of the conformity of its statutes to the principles of the ten first confraternities, and to the lustre which causes the grandees and principal citizens of the empire to incorporate themselves in it; and the other, because of its being the source of the mother society which gave birth to many others. In the spiritual line, the order of the Qadiris, Maulavis, Baqtāshis, Rifa'is, and the Sa'dis, are the most distinguished, especially the three first, on account of the eminent sanctity of their fourders, of the multitude of the miracles attributed to them, and of the superabundance of the merit which is deemed especially attached to them."
All these different orders of the anchorites have their convents called takiās, khānqās. and Zāwās, spread over different parts of the country.
Although considered as mendicant orders, no Darvish is allowed to beg, especially in public. Baqtăshis are an exception as they deem it meritorious to live by alms. Many however in imitation of Haji Bektāsh their founder, make it a rule to live only by manual labour. * The surplus of the revenues of endowments to their order is distributed among the poor, or is employed in the establishment of private and charitable buildings. The Shaikhs and Darvishes are scrupulously attached to this inviolable principle of their order.
* The doctrine of tawakkul or 'dependence upon God' was carried to excess by the earlier sūris, but in later times instead the duty to live by practice of Kasb or art or industry was inculcated. Pīr Dastagir of the Qadiris is considered in India a patron saint of industries in general. In India the chief orders require the darvishes to live by practice of Kasb.
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